FLOURISHING FAITH AND GROWING LOVE

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

(2 Thessalonians 1:1–4, NLT) “This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.”

1. GRACE is when God gives me what I Don’t deserve.

(Romans 2:4, NLT) “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

(Titus 3:4–5, NLT) “But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”

2. PEACE is confidence and trust in God’s PROVIDENCE in your life.

(Philippians 4:7, CEV) “Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.”

(Ephesians 2:14, NCV) “Christ himself is our peace. He made both Jewish people and those who are not Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them, but Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body.”

a. Order.

(1 Corinthians 14:33, NLT) “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace….”

b. Fullness.

(Romans 15:13, NLT) “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

c. Completion.

(Philippians 1:6, NLT) “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

d. Prosperity.

(Philippians 4:19, NLT) “God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

e. Tranquility.

(Isaiah 26:3, AMP) “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

f. Health and Well-Being in your spirit, soul, and body.

(1 Thessalonians 5:23, CEV) “I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.”

When the grace of God rests upon you, the peace of God rules within you.

3. Faith FLOURISHES.

“Faith is for this world and sight is for the next.” – Matthew Henry

“Your faith is flourishing.” Verse 3

Hyperauxano – to grow super abundantly, increasing

(Hebrews 4:10, NLT) “For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”

4. Love GROWS.

“Your love for one another is growing.” Verse 3

Pleonazo – another superlative for superabounding.

Love flows out of a growing faith in Jesus Christ.

5. ENDURANCE and FAITHFULNESS in suffering .

(2 Thessalonians 1:4, NLT) “We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.”

Hypomone – someone who does not swerve from their purpose.

Endurance is “the patience of hope.” – F. F. Bruce

GROWTHWORK

1.      Do a character study of Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

2.      Do a word study of grace, peace, faith, love, endurance, and suffering.

3.      Pray for growth in your family and you in grace, peace, faith, and love.